Yes, Jackson made changes to the books...I remember HATING the decision to cut Saruman's death out of ROTK and (still think) the scouring of the Shire was vital to the story. I'm not arguing about changes...no matter the director, millions of changes will have to be made in a film adaptation. The question is...which changes will make the film better and more engaging while allowing the source material to shine? I guess the majority of PJ's changes didn't bug me. Although I remember posting here the day I found out Saruman would be cut from ROTK and overreacting...saying PJ just kissed the chance of getting an oscar goodbye. (Umm...guess I was wrong..;))

It's probably just me but GDT just rubbed me the wrong way. He always had a little spiritual lesson for us all. Hey, I love Pan's Labyrinth but the gnostic little fairy tale it opens with is about as un-Tolkien as it gets and GDT seems very earnest about his beliefs. Which is fine but I guess I never quite trusted him to keep them out of the Hobbit. So PJ made changes but he seemed to always find ways to get some of Tolkien's great lines in the film..even if another character said them. I guess I never trusted GDT not to replace Tolkien's lines with his own pithy spiritual comments. "Remember Bilbo, this world is an illusion, only spirit matters." I guess I would be less irked at Bilbo slaying orcs in battle than Gandalf espousing neo-platonist philosophy.

Maybe it's just because I've just sat through Dawn Treader, where some mediocre screenwriters tried to "improve" Lewis. Having cheesy "Faith and Family" lines like "We have nothing if not belief." And "sometimes you just have to believe in these things." Blech. Lewis would stab his own hand before he let it write any tripe like that. Still bitter from that experience, I'd trust PJ to make the changes that have to be made, keep the heart of things and not try to slip in his own viewpoint as much as GDT would.